In the spring of 2012, Michael Garvey and his crew of parkour youth, (including previous board members Mateus Dachwitz, Melody Nevoral & Liva Niquidet), applied for the Columbia Basin Trust CDYF grant which resulted in Nakusp receiving $25,000/year for 4 years. At a community meeting in September 2012, locals decided that the money should be spent on (1) a coordinator, and (2) programs and activities. At that time, a “youth space” was seen as a future goal that wasn’t covered by available funding.

The people who kept showing up to meetings became the board that did the work to set this up. In December, the group became the board of SAYOPS (an existing but dormant local youth society) and changed the name of the organization to the Nakusp and Area Youth Society (which is who we are today).

In January 2017 the Nakusp and Area Youth Network (NAYN) was created based on the efforts and increased funding by the Columbia Basin Trust ‘Basin Youth Network’ grant ($55, 000/year for the next 3 years). We’ve signed on to expand beyond the Nakusp Youth Centre boundaries to create more varied opportunities for youth based on what they said they want and need. And, CBT funding has continued for 8 years now (2023).

The current board of directors is Carlee Hughes, Joseph Hughes, Tom Zeleznik, Jo Law, Madison Rahn, Chelsea Hanet, and Tina Knooihuizen. NAYS is always looking for invested volunteers and board members, so let us know if you’d like to join!

The board hired their first Youth Coordinator in May of 2013. Skye Cunningham currently holds that role with the organization since October 2019. Go to the Contact Us page for more info.